Educational Training to “Montessori Life Counselor” according to Bianca Mattern

11 years ago, Bianca Mattern developed the therapeutic Montessori work for seniors. It is targeted at people who had experienced impairments, caused by physical or mental disablement, in order to support them in everyday tasks and make their lives a little bit easier. Being a pioneer in the field, Ms. Mattern started developing her own concept in helping seniors to overcome challenges they´re facing every day. She acknowledged the high importance of giving seniors practical and useful offers that could be easily incorporated into their daily schedules.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Maria Montessori developed a pedagogical thesis for children and adolescents, whose main focus is the support of skills in an adapted surrounding: individually tailored for different people´s needs. By adapting one´s surrounding to the individuals’ specific needs, handicaps and personal restrictions can be minimized. This can easily be transferred into the field of geriatrics.

Age or disease- caused changes lead to a damage of functions or even to a loss of function among the people they concern. This leads to further ability disruptions and thus to increasing disablements due to aging.

“Montessori for Seniors” transfers the principles aimed at children to the special needs of the aging. In a prepared surrounding, seniors’ attention is drawn to materials which “seduce” them to participate, to take action. Forgotten and lost abilities can therefore be refreshed, might offer a conversation topic or be an incentive to further training. Thus, the vicious circle of disease, withdrawal and resignation can be interrupted.

The target group of this educational training are men and women with a heart of gold, who aren´t at conflict with their personal biographies and life experience and who love to work with seniors. The modules focus on the conception of the holistic individual care model according to Bianca Mattern. The crucial point is the intrinsic motivation which – according to Maria Montessori’s principles – lies within all of us. It can activated by the correctly created surrounding (work with material, exercises of everyday life etc.) respectively.

Simultaneously, as a participant you will be given a care-guideline (simulated) that can easily be individualized and then be transferred into daily life. Besides Bianca Mattern, Dr. jur. Marcel Vachek, Swen Staack, Dieter Schwibach and Angela Tahetl, will lead you through the intensive course program, which will last 11 months. During that time, you will gain insight into Montessori work with aging seniors, through unspecified/non-specific group therapy sessions, person-focused negotiation, talk, and communicational training. You will also be trained in interdisciplinary fields such as pedagogical, psychological, gerontological and legal issues.

Participants

Everyone who is interested

The course starts in Bonn on February 13, 2009

Duration of the education

11 modules with 14 teaching units per module once a month

always on Fridays from 5.00 pm to 9.00 pm and Saturdays from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm

154 teaching units in total (plus 20 job shadowing hours in their home town)

1st module February 13 to 14, 2009

“How did the idea arise to integrate Montessori principles into gerontology?” General overview of Montessori work. Who was Maria Montessori? Biography work and ideas of man.

2nd module March 6 to 7, 2009

Prepared surrounding and material principles

3rd module April 24 to 25, 2009

Clinical picture of dementia “phases of dementia”, sensitive observation and biography work

4th module May 15 to 16, 2009

Legal basis, unspecified/non-specific group therapy

5th module June 19 to 20, 2009

Team work

6th module July 3 to 4 2009

Rituals in everyday life

7th module July 31 to August 1 2009

Adapted material

8th module September 18 to 19 2009

Working with relatives/family

9th module October 9 to 10 2009

Person-focused and non-direct negotiation

10th module November 13 to 14 2009

Terminal care and grief

11th module November 27 to 28 2009

Introduction of the collected material, festive presentation of the final thesis and of the certificate handover

Costs

EUR 1,195.00 including all training documents and certificate

Number of participants is limited

All registrations for this education must be filed with the Deutsche Montessori Gesellschaft e.V. in Wiesbaden